The big 2014 Mountain West football preview countdown, from New Mexico to Boise State

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That said, of course, if there were a time for a fresh start, this might be it. Boise State went 8-5 in 2013, its first time with more than four losses since 1998. Chris Petersen’s squad dealt with some injuries, sure, and was breaking in one hell of a 2013 recruiting class, so it’s not like there were nothing but 8-5 seasons in the future, but after losing just two games (and by a total of six points) in 2012, the Broncos were straight-up thumped in three of five 2013 losses (by 32 at Washington, by 17 at BYU, by 15 against Oregon State in the Hawaii Bowl). If Petersen had stayed, the odds of a rebound in 2014 were pretty solid.

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Head coach Gary Andersen, who needed just three years to craft a top-25 team from a destitute program, left for Wisconsin.

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The order of wins and losses often dictates the narrative for your season. If you lose early before catching fire late, you end up with a story of redemption and, potentially, big hopes for the next year. If you win early and drop a couple of games late, things end up a little more sour, simply because the stakes got too high for you to maintain.

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Every year if feels like I say something similar about San Diego State.

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Even when you succeed for a while in a hard job, the difficulty often catches up to you. Recruiting loses its edge. A successful assistant departs, and you cannot account for his absence.

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Coach builds up football program from ashes. Coach leaves for another job. Program returns to ashes. It happens all the time in college football, and when head coach Mike MacIntyre left San Jose for Colorado a year ago, there had to be at least a little bit of concern that it would happen to SJSU. MacIntyre inherited a program that had gone 2-10 in 2009 and had managed just two winning seasons and one bowl since 1992. But he pulled off a 10-year rebuilding job in just three years; SJSU went 1-12 in Year 1, 5-7 in Year 2, and 11-2 in Year 3, and he was gone.

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SMU was 5-7 and three tight losses from bowl eligibility. Middle Tennessee was 8-5, Louisiana-Lafayette 9-4. San Diego State, Arkansas State, Rutgers, UNLV, and Ohio all went bowling.

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It’s been a confusing couple of decades for Colorado State football. When Sonny Lubick took over for Earle Bruce in 1993, the Rams had never been ranked and had attended only two bowls in their history. Lubick vaulted them to 10-2 and a No. 16 finish in 1994, then had them ranked for part of every season from 1997 to 2003. After long being an afterthought, Colorado State became a steady and powerful mid-major presence.

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Bob Davie worked for Jackie Sherrill at Pittsburgh and Texas A&M. He was R.C. Slocum’s Linebacker U defensive coordinator at Texas A&M. He was Lou Holtz’s defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. His view of football starts on the defensive side.